Argonaut basketball players Rashaan Benson (11), left to right, Darryl Tucker (21), and Marvin Jones (4) pose at the University of West Florida in Pensacola on Wednesday, March 7, 2018.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)Buy Photo

The rosters you'll see in the NCAA Division II Tournament don’t often feature the high school All-American prospects that litter Division I programs across the country.

Some teams feature the occasional DI transfer, such as Barry University’s Elvar Fridrikkson, a reserve on the Icelandic national team and former LIU-Brooklyn guard whom the University of West Florida will face in its NCAA Tournament opener on Saturday in Atlanta.

But that isn’t the case with upstart University of West Florida (28-3), which features a starting rotation of players who mostly joined the team two years ago as junior college transfers, that were rarely stars before arriving in Pensacola.

They’ve rewritten program records, claiming the first conference tournament title in school history as well as toppling the single-season wins record by a wide margin.

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“A lot of people weren’t the all-stars or superstars at their schools,” UWF senior forward Darryl Tucker said. “So when we came here we just wanted to work hard and show by example. That’s how everybody is so good.”

Many key players like junior point guard Rashaan Benson and senior guard Marvin Jones didn’t even play high school basketball in their senior seasons, but they’ve found a home at UWF under the tutelage of head coach Jeff Burkhamer.

“It’s a complement to those guys that they didn’t quit playing or make excuses,” Burkhamer said “They found a way to keep working and got an opportunity to play at the college level.”

Benson – a Memphis native – was homeschooled through HomeLife Academy and played in an independent homeschool travel league.

The stage provided some opportunities for recruiting, but not the same as those of the district and state tournaments Benson’s prep counterparts were able to compete on.

It wasn’t until Benson showed out at a UWF tryout that Argo head coach Jeff Burkhamer – who at the time was taking over a program that combined for 14 wins the past two seasons – gave the point guard a shot at playing college ball.

Benson’s parlayed that chance into three years as a starting point guard for the Argos, where he’s entered the school’s career Top 10 for assists.

Jones, meanwhile, took the AAU road instead of playing for Tucker High School in Decatur, Georgia, a path which took him to Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

It was there he became a second team junior college All-American in his second season, production that caught the eye of Burkhamer and brought him to Pensacola.

Jones was the beneficiary of so many of Benson’s assists in UWF’s 20-win season in 2016-17, shooting a blistering 43.2 percent from downtown.

And after clearing academic issues which kept him ineligible in the early part of this season, Jones continued to be the Argos’ top deep threat and a common target for a point guard that shares such a similar story.

“That bond helps us on the court,” Jones said. “Just to know my point guard is there for me and I’m there for my point guard, it’s the best feeling.”

And then there’s Tucker, the Argos’ imposing big man that didn’t play varsity basketball until his junior season at Rockdale County High School in Conyers, Georgia.

“I wasn’t really that good in high school,” Tucker said. “But I just kept grinding and pursuing my dream to be a pro basketball player. I’m finally living that out.”

Stops at Central Georgia Technical College and Georgia Perimeter College preceded his arrival in Pensacola, where Burkhamer decided to take a chance on an athletic junior college transfer.

Now averaging a UWF-best 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game as a senior, Tucker has become the Argos’ “go-to guy” in the paint, a level even his coach admits he wasn’t sure he’d reach.

“Coming out of junior college even, you didn’t think that,” UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer said. “He was going to be a good player. He was so athletic we knew he could play at this level, but to get where he’s at now is amazing.”

Their backgrounds have come together to produce what Burkhamer calls a tight-knit “work team,” one that’s already become the accomplished team in program history.

And there’s still plenty more room for their names in the record book at this week’s NCAA Regional.

“It’s kind of a respect factor,” Benson said. “We know how much each of us have worked to get here. We all bond over that and it kind of pushes on the court because we know how hard we worked to get here.”